


Runner Five, Reporting for Duty!

by ThisIsLizz



Series: Morning Keep the Streets Empty [3]
Category: Zombies Run!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2020-10-21 10:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsLizz/pseuds/ThisIsLizz
Summary: Her name is Frankie.She is a soldier.She is falling from the sky.





	1. Falling Skies

The sky is burning.

London is in flames.

It rains fire down from the sky, the air is thick. Every breath is pain and ashes and smoke. It‘s dark. And the world burns.

The bridge is close but far ... too far ...

And the smell. By God, the smell... 

She is running to the bridge, running as the sky is burning and she-

\- she is clinging to her seat.

The smell. The same smell. Smoke. Ashes. _Death_.

She is in a helicopter, but she is also in London.

It‘s raining fire.

She feels the heat on her skin.

_Sasha-!_

Someone is shouting.

Is it Sasha?

She doesn‘t know.

The sky is burning and she is in a helicopter now. They are falling. Turning. Turning.

Around and around. Falling, always falling.

Surrounded by smoke.

Frankie can feel the fire behind her, above her, the burning helicopter screaming, her friends screaming, the _ghosts_ screaming, and maybe she is screaming as well. Maybe she is a ghost already.

Maybe she has been a ghost since London.

The smoke is blinding, the screams deafening.

She falls from the burning sky, and she runs to the bridge. Just a few more steps. Just-

There is a voice in her head, a voice that shouldn’t be here in London, shouting, panicked.

_"This is Abel Township calling. Supply copter, can you hear us? You’re coming down fast… can any of you hear us? Open your shoots! Jump, jump!"_

She is in London, running for the bridge. She‘s also clinging to the voice in the helicopter. She has to stay here, has to stay in the helicopter, instinctively she knows it. She is not a ghost. _Not yet. Not yet!_

If she stays in London everything will be over.

So she clings to the voice, telling her to jump, pulling herself away from London. The helicopter turns again, she can see the treetops, she can see the _burning houses of London_, _shadows of burning people_, no NO, trees!

She is in the helicopter and she needs to get out! She needs to jump!

And so she does. She falls through the burning air, through the burning sky of London, no Frankie focus, the tree tops are getting closer and at the very last moment she remembers to pull the strings on her parashute. She feels the pull as she‘s ripped out of the free fall and slowed down.

The wind is cold, and wet, and it blows away the memories of London for now. She can smell fresh air. Not fire and smoke and death.

Her name is Frankie.

She is a soldier.

She is falling from the sky.

She is not in London. She is Frankie, and Frankie is still alive.

For now.

The headphones she wore in the helicopter spring to live again, the voice of the Abel Township guy difficult to make out. But she can hear him despite the noise if the helicopter crashing.

_"_ _Hey, hey! I, uh… this is Abel Township calling, over? If there’s anyone alive, if you’ve got your parachute open, this is Sam Yao, from Abel Township."_

The wind is coming up, blowing her further and further away from the smoke of the crashed helicopter. And blowing her further and further into the forest.

_"Aww, I’m just the… I’m just the radio operator, man, I’m not supposed to handle this stuff!"_

There are trees, so close now, and Frankie tries her best to avoid them. A moment later her parachute gets caught in the crown of a pine tree. Her fall comes to an abrupt stop, and it feels like her shoulders are ripped out of her body. The backpack she had held onto while falling is pulled from her fingers.

She‘s dangling a few feet above the forest floor.

Frankie needs a few moments to find her orientation again. Then she tries to free herself of the ropes and locks. It's futile though. She quickly realises she won‘t be able to open them.

"_You‘ve come down in a horde of zombies,_" the person from Abel... Adam... Max...? _Whatshisname_ says.

Of course. Of course there are zombies, and she is dangling here unable to get out. It‘s like a zombie buffet... She _needs_ to get out! Now!

There is a knife in her boot, she remembers. She ignores the pain in her shoulders and her... well... her everything, and reaches for it. It takes three attempts, then she finally has it between her fingers and pulls it out.

_"They’ve heard the noise, they’re coming! There are - thirty? No, forty - aw, crap!"_

Somehow it doesn't help to know how many zombies are going to get her if she doesn’t cut these ropes fast enough. She starts on the first on, cuts her finger and ignores the blood. The one rope doesn‘t do it, so she turns around, ignoring the pain and starts cutting the second one as well.

She can hear growling now, it‘s close. Very close. She doubles her effort to cut the rope. The zombies will be here any moment! She can see the first one stumbling through the trees underneath her.

This can‘t be how it ends! It can‘t be! Not after all that. Not after everything that has happened. This cannot be how she goes down.

One last slash, then she falls. Frankie hits the ground right next to the first zombie. Her knife still in her hands she gets up and just starts stabbing it. Panicked. She stabs it once, twice, until it goes to the ground. More zombies are here, and her whole body hurts. She won‘t be able to fight all of them. Not like this.

The voice in her ear comes to live again, more static crackling, _"The only safe path is towards the tower. If there’s anyone alive there, just run. Run!"_

And she does. Her knife in her hand she sprints towards her backpack that came down just a few feet next to her, and when the zombies are here she just runs.

Because what else is she supposed to do? She runs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you as always for reading!  
We've had two updates in a row, but I will now switch to uploading every other week.
> 
> Also, don't worry we won't be moving through all the missions in this pace, as I said I do take liberties with the story ;)
> 
> Well then, follow me on tumblr (collected-sports-bra) for in between sneak peaks of upcoming chapters.
> 
> Next chapter: October 3rd


	2. Forest Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's running for her life so she shouldn’t be too picky, right? Adam will do just fine. Or was it Dave?  
Also, she needs to get somewhere save soon. She just fell from the sky and who knows how hurt she actually is. Might be nothing but the shock and the adrenaline keeping her up and running.  
The ghosts are not here yet, not at the moment, but she knows they‘ll find her sooner or later. They are probably just somewhere around the corner.  
Watching her.  
Waiting.  
She needs to get away as fast as she can.

Frankie runs through the trees, jumps over roots, and only barely avoids another group of zombies breaking through the bushes.

She runs for her life. 

And it‘s scary but also... also it‘s like it was when she was on her own, after _Ocean View_. Not a run organized by Mullins, where a helicopter or convoy could save her if push came to shove. Not a run where the jeeps with soldiers and guns were waiting for them. No, nobody here to save her now.

Just her own feet carrying her, closer and closer to the edge of the forest. There are fewer trees here, which makes running a little bit easier. It also makes it easier for the zombies to follow her though...

_"Wow, there‘s .... there‘s someone alive down there, running!"_ Well, she's not all alone, there is still the voice in the headphones. Matt. No. Mark! Mark? He sounds excited. _"Hey, can you hear me?"_

"I hear you!" she shouts into her headset as she avoids a shambler and increases her pace a little. "I hear you..." dammit what is his name again?

"_No answer,_" he says.

Frankie shouts into the headset again. Frustrated. But nothing.

Great, the damn thing didn‘t survive the crash! But at least she can see the radio tower now that she‘s nearly out of the forest. It‘s far, but not as far as it looked from the helicopter. She might be able to make it there, if her body doesn't give in. Or if the zombies don't get her. Or the ghosts.

_"But still, just look at ‘em go! Heading for the tower, just like I said,"_ the Abel guy says in her ears. _"Okay… running person. If you can hear me, well, you’re doing great. The main group’s behind you, and you’re going to come out of this forest soon, but there’s a… yeah, well, I-I can’t think of a phrase that’s not 'small army of zombies'. Sorry, don’t do so well under massive pressure.“_

Great, isn‘t that exactly the kind of person you want around when shit hits the fan? Someone who is not good under pressure?

But she‘s running for her life so she shouldn’t be too picky, right? Adam will do just fine. Or was it Dave?

Also, she needs to get somewhere save soon. She just fell from the sky and who knows how hurt she actually is. Might be nothing but the shock and the adrenaline keeping her up and running.

The ghosts are not here yet, not at the moment, but she knows they‘ll find her sooner or later. They are probably just somewhere around the corner. Watching her. Waiting. She needs to get away as fast as she can.

The guy from Abel is still taking but she‘s missed parts of it. "._.. you head more towards the old saw mill - you should be able to see it’s massive red signs from where you are…"_ Red sign, there it is, she turns left and heads towards it. Apparently the guy approves. _"Man, look at that, they’re changing direction! They can… You can hear me!"_ he laughs, clearly relieved. It’s easy for him to laugh he’s not out here being chased by zombies.

The rain is letting off a little and Frankie keeps heading for the mill. It takes her off the direct path to the tower though. She’ll have to trust that these people know the area.

_"Okay, okay, we can keep you safe. It’s cool, it’s cool, we can bring you in."_ There is another voice in the background that Frankie can‘t make out. But whatever they say, the Abel Radio Guy (Dave?) doesn‘t sound to happy about it. _"No, we can’t ask them that! They might be injured!" _

There is another voice in her ears now, a woman with an American accent (she should probably try and identify which accent it is, but she can’t be bothered to care. Not now. Not when she is running for her life). The woman introduces herself as Doctor Myers, apparently the only medical professional the township has. _"Lord knows I’m sorry to ask you this, but your route will take you almost past the old hospital. We know there are medical kits still there from the first wave of infection - if you could pick up even one or two, that would help us."_

There is some discussion going on between the two Abel people, about the rocket launcher and zombies, and Frankie doesn’t bother listening. There is a road sign with a red cross pointing a bit further to the left, most likely leading to a hospital. So she heads there.

_"It‘s too dangerous! You know what happened to Runner Five!"_

Frankie can see the hospital building now, or least she assumes that‘s the hospital. It‘s a tall building with a tower and a huge red cross on it. Looks like a hospital all right.

_"I don’t want to be hard-headed, but everyone in this township earns their keep," _the woman - Myers? - says. _"You should be able to see the Robinson hospital now - one of the buildings, Gryphon Tower, it’s the tallest in the abandoned city, and if you can’t find anything… we might not be able to let you in when you get here."_

If that's not a good reason for a detour, nothing is. Frankie needs a save place to recover, and Abel is the only save place around here. If her way in leads through that hospital, that's where she'll go.

She zig-zags through a few abandoned cars The hospital is just a few buildings ahead now. Frankie keeps her eyes and ears open - all these ruins are a perfect hiding ground for zombies, and she doesn‘t want any surprises.

_"You’re making good time. No broken legs, I guess,"_ Radio guy - Frank? No, probably not Frank - says in her ears. _"Hey, uh, listen… I’m gonna call you Runner Five. Um, just 'cause… well, I don’t know your name, and we just lost a Runner, in that same hospital you’re running through now."_

For a moment she wonders if it's a bad omen. To carry the code name of someone who died at the very place she is heading to now.

Then again, what even is a name? And what does it matter what he calls her?

Nothing. Names are nothing, in the end.

Frankie is nearly at the front gates of the hospital now. There is a fence, not too tall, no wire-mesh. She stops, contemplating if she should try to find a way around or an opening. Then she hears the zombies behind her. Alright, over the fence it is!

It takes her two attempts but then she manages to get her bruised body up the fence and down on the other side. The Abel guy is still talking about this Runner Five person who died here, while she runs across the parking lot heading for the entrance.

_"She was so fast, really funny, and clever. Me and her, we sort of…"_ he sighs. _"She was amazing. But hey! You could be our new Runner Five! If you make it back alive… Yeah, um, the Runners are pretty important to keeping us going here. Any fuel we have goes to working the generators, and the truth is, if you’ve got two legs and you can go above a slow shamble, you’ll be able to stay out the zoms’ way, am I right? …"_

Right, sure, whatever. It‘s not like she doesn‘t care about the guy in her ear and his dead girlfriend, it‘s just that she doesn‘t care_ right now_ cause there are more important things to do.

She makes it to the main entrance of the hospital and turns around. The zombies that have followed her since the helicopter crash reach the fence - and get struck there. Their arms reaching through the holes, trying to grab her. But she's already too far away for them.

Seems like she is save for now. No zombies. And now ghosts. For now.

Maybe she can do this. Maybe she can survive this and get to the township.

A moan. Of course. From her right there are zombies stumbling across the parking lot. They must have been hiding somewhere around the building, alerted by her climbing the fence. Time to go!

The doors to the hospital are locked with a chain, but one of the huge glass windows next to it is broken, so she carefully makes her way inside. The zombies are still far away, but she knows she should hurry. It might take her a while to find ... well, whatever these people want her to find as payment. Still, she takes a moment to listen once she's in the building. Any moaning coming from inside? Anything dead or alive in here?

But the hospital is quiet at the moment, the only noise coming from the zombies outside.

The ground floor is deserted, full of broken chairs and other furniture, rubbish, and dust. But not much more. Frankie has no idea where to start looking. There is what looks like a handmade sign pointing to the right, stating _Virus Emergency Center_. Maybe that‘s where she‘ll find any medical kits? Well, that direction is as good as any, so she runs.

_"Your pace is good, but, um, maybe head through the ground floor of the hospital. There’s a little swarm gathering in the parking lot I don’t like the look of, and um… Yeah, yeah, that’s good… You could even pick up anything interesting you pass."_

The more she brings the more likely they‘ll let her in she assumes. And she did kind of lose all the equipment and supplies they were supposed to get from Mullins when the helicopter crashed. Frankie reaches a corridor leading to another part of the building. There are cupboards on the side of it, some of them half open, and half broken. She opens them, most are empty. But she finds a small first aid kit that looks unopened and quickly puts it into her backpack. Another cupboard holds a few rolls of gauze and something that looks like pills, but she doesn’t bother looking what it is exactly. She just stuffs them into her backpack and hurries on.

There is some noise in the main lobby and she should get going.

_"We think there might be some… well, we sent the old Runner Five there looking for some file the Doc’s interested in, so uh, you know, if you find anything official-looking lying around, just bring it home."_

Medical files, official looking documents, sure, what else? Food? Whatever will buy her entrance to the Township. But there is no more useful stuff here, so she keeps heading down the corridor. Maybe another room will hold more useful things...

Frankie reaches the next part of the building. It looks even more devastated than the areas she's seen already. Beds are thrown on the floor and broken furniture is everywhere. The outbreak must have hit this part of the hospital pretty bad. She should hurry to try and find something!

The main lobby doesn’t hold much interesting stuff, a few snacks from a broken snack machine lying on the floor, some medication, a stetoscope (it might be useful, so she puts it around her neck).

When looking through a broken cabinet that clearly someone else has emptied before her, Frankie sees an office door to another room.

A lot of dust on the floor in front of it.

She hesitates. There could be some useful stuff in there that nobody else has bothered grabbing until now.

Could also be a zombie inside.

After a moment listening to the zombie noises in the main lobby coming closer to the corridor, she takes out her knife, and sneaks to the door. She can‘t hear anything from the other side of the door. But when she reaches for the handle and tests if the room is locked or not, there is a moaning from inside.

Dammit so there _is_ a zombie in there! Probably someone who got bitten, and then hid. Locked themselves into the office. For safety. Or to keep the others save?

Frankie takes a deep breath, holds the knife up, and then pushes the handle again.

The second the door swings open she duck to the side. Not a moment too early, because a heavyly decayed zombie is stumbling out of the room. Frankie attacks it with the knife, stabbing it into the head.

Mihara is falling to the ground to her feet. The ghosts are back.

But there is not time to deal with them now, not now with the zombies getting closer. The room behind the door is an office, with two desks and a few cupboards, and it‘s - like everything else - full of ruined furniture and shredded papers. Dammit she was hoping for something valuable and ... how did the Abel guy call it ... "_official looking_".

Still, she‘s got a few more moments, so she searches the room. There is a half empty bottle of scotch - she takes a sip and puts the rest in her bag - probably from one of the doctors‘ secret stashes, a way to make dealing with the early days of the apocalypse easier. There‘s also a few still sealed rolls of gauze.

She‘s just about to close her backpack and leave - the zombies are pretty close now and she doesn‘t want to get caught in this room - when something catches her eyes. Part of her just wants to head out before the zombies can cut off her escape route (past the second broken vending machine, then down the next corridor and to the left - that should take her to the emergency exit, according to the map she‘s studied on the walls outside. Always have an escape route ready, just in case) - but this small metal box underneath all the shredded paper might be useful.

For a moment, Frankie hesitates, then she pulls it out. It‘s a small looked box, the right size for some paperwork that is not supposed to wrinkle. Like important files, or legal documents. It‘s locked, so it might be something important. There is a label on it, but before Frankie has time to take a better look at it, the zombies are here and if she wants to get out of the office she needs to get out _now!_

She takes the backpack, the box, and runs.

It's close, _too_ close.

She can feel the stench of the first zombie on her face when she runs out of the room. He grabs for her but she‘s still a little faster.

And then she‘s off, down the corridor. She‘s just past the vending machine approaching the staircase and elevators when her headset springs to life again and she hears the Abel guy‘s voice: _"Hey, there you are! I’ve got you on camera now. Great to see you, even though you’re kinda blurry."_

Part of her is impressed that these people managed to get into the security system of the hospital to use their security cameras. Maybe there is some potential to those guys living here in the middle of nowhere.

The sign for the emergency exit points to the left, so she turns left, and runs down a flight of stairs taking her to yet another corridor. She can see doors at the end of it. Glass doors. Leading outside. The zombies are behind her, but she‘s managed to get more distance between herself and them.

_"Uh, what’s that you’re carrying? Look at this, Doc - Runner Five picked up something in the hospital."_ So she _is_ Runner Five now, officially and all that? He didn‘t even bother waiting for her answer if she liked that code name or not.

But that‘s not important right now. Surviving is important! The exit gets closer and closer.

_"Is that the Centers for Disease Control file?" _the doctor says._ "Runner Five, I don’t say this lightly - that box could be worth your life to protect. Don’t drop it."_

Just a few more steps and she‘ll be outside. And then, hopefully, she'll be save.

_"What is it?" _the Abel guy asks - David? Dammit why didn‘t she pay closer attention when he introduced himself, she can‘t even ask him now what his name is.

_"Oh, it might be nothing, it might be everything,“ _the doctor woman says_._

Frankie reaches for the doors and opens them, heading outside of the hospital back onto the parking lot. Well, a different parking lot than before. But outside. She made it!

A quick scan of the cars shows no zombies.

The exit of the parking lot seems to be to her left, so she‘ll try her luck there, to make it back to the road. The stupid metal box is heavy, and so is the backpack, now that it‘s full of stuff. Also everything hurts, so Frankie hopes there won‘t be any more detours now.

She is half way across the parking lot, when she hears the doctor again in her ears, _"What’s that shadow over there?"_

Uh-oh.

The radio guy sounds nervous all of a sudden,_ “Aw, aww, no! This was what - when we sent her out, this was what happened! They’re following you, Runner Five - the swarm from the car park, they’re following you! Now, run!“_

Oh shit. Oh _shit_! They are trying to cut her off! The damn zombies she left behind in front of the fence - she remembers the one with the blue dress! - they must have found a way around the fence.

And reinforments. They also found reinforcments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter!
> 
> As always, you can follow me on tumblr if you want to chat with me about Zombies, Run! (collected-sports-bra).
> 
> The next chapter will be out on October 17th...
> 
> And again, don't worry, we won't go into all the missions in that much detail ;)


	3. Fast Five(s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a moment Frankie things that this is it. This is it. She‘ll die here.
> 
> Caught and killed by the zombie who‘s codename she‘s now wearing. Apparently.
> 
> Another name of another dead person.
> 
> Robin. Frankie. Runner Five...

Frankie runs, ducks under the bars of the exit to the parking lot and back to the main road, avoiding all cars or other potential hiding places. She can see the tower again, now that she‘s around the hospital.

The tower showing her the way to Abel. She‘s going to make it! Zombies are not too quick after all. Even with the extra weight she‘s carrying in her backpack it should be-

A look back over her shoulders makes her blood freeze!

The zombies are fast. Freaking fast! Some of them have fallen behind a little, unable to keep up with her. But there are some that are fast. For zombies. And even for humans. They are not falling behind. They are actually catching up. She needs to speed up. She needs to get to the radio tower, somehow. No more detours.

The people at Abel seem to have noticed the weird zombie behaviour as well, cause the guy sounds even more nervous than before.

_"They’re so fast, why are they so fast? They never run, why are they running?? Runner Five? Runner Five, they’re gaining on you!"_

I know, she wants to say, but she can‘t speak, she needs to focus on running, getting enough oxigen into her lungs. Running just a little faster, a little faster...

She leaves the last buildings behind, running along open fields. Another look back. Dammit, some of them have caught up even more. The Abel Tower is getting closer, and the road leads her back into the forest, not as deep as the one she came down in, the trees are small and far from eatch other. She can‘t see the tower anymore, but she knows it can‘t be that far anymore.

And really: "_Runner Five, you’re not far from the gates now._" The doctor tells her. "_If you can keep going, we’ll send some people with guns out to meet you. Only one zombie is close to reaching you, just put on a burst of speed, now!_"

Another glance across her shoulder: The group of faster zombies has fallen behind a little in the forest, some of them confused by the bushes and trees. But one of them, one is getting closer and closer: a female zombie. A very _very_ fast female zombie.

For a moment Frankie things she sees the zombie wearing a headset, but that‘s ridiculous. She needs to focus on running and not stumbling.

The path takes a few curves, slowing Frankie down a litte, but then there is a straight road leading out to a clearing. Where Abel should be. She hopes it is there. Because her body is on fire and every muscle hurts. But she can gain speed there, she can make it.

"_Oh, God… it’s her_," the Abel guy says, and he sounds shattered. "_I can see her… it’s Alice, it’s the old Runner Five. She’s the one chasing you, she’s… she’s still wearing her headset! She’s…_" She‘s chased by the guy‘s dead girlfriend who died in the hospital where she just was and whose _codename_ she‘s now wearing? That‘s ... that all sorts of fucked up.

Also why is this zombie so freaking fast?

The clearing is coming closer. But so is the zombie. She can hear the groaning behind her, can smell the zombie stench. She might be imagining the breathing in her neck. Or not. She‘s too afraid to turn around and check, but the zombie can‘t be further than an arms length from her now. She‘s running through the forest for Abel, and she‘s running_ through London from the burning sky_. No, _no! Focus!_ She needs to focus!

She‘s in the forest!

She needs to give a little more, run a little faster. Just a little.

There is another voice suddenly, a deep booming voice she hasn‘t heard before: _"Runner Five, it’s Runner Seven here, head of runners. The doctor’s told me you found something useful in the hospital. We’re sending out a couple of people to bring you in. Just keep running, as fast as you can! Don’t look back, she’s right behind you… just run!"_

And she does.

For a moment Frankie things that this is it. This is it. She‘ll die here.

Caught and killed by the zombie who‘s codename she‘s now wearing. Apparently.

Another name of another dead person.

_Robin. Frankie. Runner Five... _

This is it, this is what will kill her. Not the burning skies of London, not the fire rain, not ... not King's Cross. But this one single zombie here, this stupid detour for the stupid box of ... "official looking" whatever.

"THIS WAY!" someone shouts, and it‘s not via her headset.

She follows the voice instinctively, and instead of heading out to the clearing right away she turns left and runs in a curve through the trees.

"_They are going to shoot her._" Abel guy says, and he sounds like he‘s in tears. She knows she should feel sorry for him but she has lost the ability to care. She just wants to stop running. "_I-I can‘t watch, I don‘t want to..._"

The groaning, Frankie notices, is not just coming from behind her, but also from her headsets. That‘s just gross, the zombie is still transmitting via the headset. Now everyone will hear when it tears into her and eats her alive...

"_It‘s what she would have wanted, Sam"_, Doctor Myers says, and some part of Frankie‘s brain realizes that, ah, the guy‘s name is Sam, she knew it was something with an a, but then she reaches the clearing, and she can see Abel now.

A small township, a radio tower, and fences. Beautiful strong fences. here are people running towards her. People with guns.

_"She wouldn‘t have wanted to live like this,_" the doctor says.

"Run, We‘ve got you covered!“ it‘s the same voice as before, one of the people heading towards her. There are also two people standing on top of the fence with rifles.

Someone shoots, the guards on the fence maybe, other the other people, she doesn‘t know. Frankie just ducks her head, tries to not get in the way. The groaning is close now, so so close.

Another shot. Then the groaning is gone. And Abel is near.

Abel guy‘s voice - Sam, she chastisizes herself. Now that she knows his name she probably should stop calling him "Abel guy" - sounds weird when he says: "_Raise the gates... Raise the gates!_" There is the blarring of a siren, and the huge metal gate she‘s been heading towards is slowly opening. There are more shots behind her - the other people taking care of the rest of the fast zombies who are still following her.

But Frankie doesn‘t care. She just runs, and when the gate is open she heads inside.

She‘s made it. The fence is behind her now. Between her and the zombies and the burning helicopter. Maybe even between her and the ghosts, between her and London, between her and King's Cross. Maybe...

She hears the gate close behind her, and people are gathering at the open area she‘s at now. And that‘s when her feet finally give in, when all strength leaves her. She stumbles, and has to sit down to not hurt herself any further. There are people now, gathering around her, whispering to each other.

Frankie is still clinging to the stupid box from the stupid hospital, and she‘s got sweat in her eyes and she barely manages to catch her breath. She doesn‘t bother looking up to greet everyone.

It‘s not important now. What is important is that she is save. For now she‘s save.

"Welcome," someone says, "The Major will want to see you when she gets back."

"Hey, great to see a new face!" another voice. And another.

"Did you bring any food? Any canned food?"

"Or dried food? Dried food is good as well!"

Someone seems to have spotted her backpack, full of stuff, and the voice is excited: "Hey, you‘ve picked up some med packs"

"Hey, guys, make way will you?" it‘s a voice she recognises, although it does sound a little bit different now than through the headphones.

She finally manages to find enough strength to look up. A guy makes his way to her through the crowd. It‘s Abel Guy ... _Sam_, the one who talked to her. He‘s a bit younger than she thought he was at first. Asian. His eyes are red, probably from crying, but he smiles when he sees her.

He doesn't just smile. He _beams_. "Good to see you in the flesh ... the totally unbroken, skin-not-bitten-by-zombies flesh, right?"

She nods. Well, at least she assumes she didn‘t get bitten. She can‘t be one hundred percent sure though. Her whole body aches.

Now that she‘s looked up she sees a crowd of people standing around her, all looking, some of them in awe, most of the curious, but there are a few people who look ... wary. Maybe. Cautious.

"Step back, step back everyone, don’t crowd! Give Runner Five some space! Can’t take in so many new faces right now."

He reaches out a hand and Frankie gratefully takes it, and he helps her up.

"Alright, first things first, we need to get you to the Doc," he explains. "Check you for bites. We need to be careful with stuff like that, sorry. Also she should see that box you brought. Alright?"

She nods. "Yeah, okay..."

"Ah, so you _do _have a voice!" Abel G- _Sam _laughs.

There is more murmur going on in the crowd, all of them discussing the unexpected events of the day. She doesn‘t bother, she slowly follows Sam leading the way out of the crowd. Frankie is too tired and exhausted to make out any details. Until-

"So that‘s who they‘ve assigned for Projecte Greenshoot."

It‘s a female voice, whispering to someone else. Frankie turns around, tries to see who just said that. But it‘s impossible to say.

Was it the young blond girl with the huge eyes, pale and clearly shocked? Or the serious looking tall woman behind her? Or one of the two women on the other side, both gesticulating with their hands? Or one of the other people here? Frankie doesn‘t know.

But it reminds her that there is still this ominous Project Greenshoot going on. And that some of the people here are in on it.She needs to find out who. And what the Project is. And if she needs to get out of here, and away from the area, as fast as she possibly can. She should try staying here for a while. Just to make sure she has enough time to figure it out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it through Mission 1, whoa, what a ride! As promised, we won't cover all missions in that much detail ;) Also, please appreciate the chapter name I came up with. I'm really proud of it...
> 
> Next chapter: November 8th


	4. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tent is empty except for the three of them. But there is a blanket on one of the beds, and some stuff lying next to it. Did they move a patient somewhere else so they can talk to Frankie in private, without someone else listening?
> 
> Doctor Myers leads her to another bed.
> 
> "Here, take a seat, please."
> 
> Frankie does, and she didn‘t even realise how much her feet hurt until sitting down. A tiny pained groan escapes her, and Doctor Myers and Sam share a look. A worried look.
> 
> "Not a zombie groan I swear," she hurries to explain. "Just an ... everything hurts groan."

Doctor Myers‘ first name is Maxine, she is a black woman with dark black curls - tied to a bun in her neck, probably so they won't distract her when she is at work - and she has the most beautiful smile Frankie has ever seen.

In another life, Frankie would have probably flirted with her, at least a little.

Not anymore.

Abel‘s "hospital" is made out of a container that used to be around big contraction sites back in the pre-apocalypse days, and a very sturdy big field tend attached to it.

Maxine, the doctor, waits for Sam and Frankie in front of the entrance, and gives them a big smile.

"There you are, mysterious Runner. Good to finally meet you," they shake hands, and Frankie introduces herself, then she follows the Doctor into the tent.

The inside is ... nothing special. She has seen tents like that - military hospitals - in different other bases, and even helped set up one during a mission as a Mullins Runner. A few beds, some basic medical equipment, and lots of improvising. The container seems to hold Doctor Myers‘ office.

The tent is empty except for the three of them. But there is a blanket on one of the beds, and some stuff lying next to it. Did they move a patient somewhere else so they can talk to Frankie in private, without someone else listening?

Doctor Myers leads her to another bed.

"Here, take a seat, please."

Frankie does, and she didn‘t even realise how much her feet hurt until sitting down. A tiny pained groan escapes her, and Doctor Myers and Sam share a look. A worried look.

"Not a zombie groan I swear," she hurries to explain. "Just an ... everything hurts groan."

The doctor nods. "You did survive quite the crash here, and it was a long run. Is this the box you found?"

She nods, and hands the metal box over to the doctor.

"Is it something important?" Sam immediately asks, trying to find out what the label says.

Doctor Myers shrugs. "Who knows? There will be time to check these later, we will have to break open the locks either way. We‘ll ask Janine to keep it somewhere save until I‘ve had time to take a better look at it." With these words she puts the box down. "Now it‘s more important we take care of our guest here. Are you hurt, do you feel any pain?"

"Yes," she says truthfully. "Everywhere."

"The doc will have to do a check up," Sam explains. "For injuries, but also ... you know ... for zombie bites."

The idea of getting undressed on a cold day like that, in front of a stranger, to get checked for potential zombie bites is not on her top three things to do list. But she understands why they have to do it. So she sighs and nods. "Okay."

"Thank you. And after that we‘ll see that you can take a shower and some food and some sleep."

"Thanks."

The doctor leaves, probably to get some supplies she‘ll need for the checkup (maybe gloves because even Frankie can see that she‘s drenched in sweat and dirt). There is some awkward silence with just Sam and Frankie here. She wonders if she should say something about his girlfriend getting killed.

Or would that be tactless?

Or inappropriate?

What would she even say? _Sorry they had to put a bullet in your girlfriend‘s head to save my sorry little excuse for a life?_ Not the best way to find out more about these people...

Also, it‘s the apocalypse after all. They‘ve all lost people before. Maybe Sam will be lucky. Maybe there won‘t be any ghosts following him...

So instead of breaching this topic of _Hey sorry for your girlfriend who got shot cause she tried to kill me_, she opts for a "Thank you."

“What for?”

“Just … getting me here,” she explains.

He nods, his smile slightly sad. “Thanks for helping us out with the supplies and … you know … the files. Also thanks for … not dying I guess.”

Then Doctor Myers is back, thankfully, saving them both from any further embarrassing conversation, and she and shoos Sam out of the tent. (“Go talk to Janine, ask her what she thinks we should do.” - “But, the Major …” - “Left Janine in charge until she is back.” - “But...” - “Get out before I need to kick you out myself.” - “Geeez, violent much? I’m going I’m going…”)

Doctor Myers chuckles when she finally gets Sam out of the tent. “He gets way too excited about things,” she mumbles, then returns to Frankie. “So, Mrs -“

“Koenigsberg.”

“Koenigsberg, right.”

"But you can call me Frankie,” she says, trying to turn attention away from the all-too-German last name. No need to draw attention to it. That only makes people ask questions.

“Frankie then, let’s make sure you’re okay and not bitten by zombies…”

Twenty minutes later, Frankie has been thoroughly checked by Doctor Myers and deemed save. She also had a quick but oh so nice shower in a separate shower area next to the hospital trailer (“Shower time and hot water is restricted. For the common showers you need to get a time slot, but here in the hospital it’s always available.”). Then she gets some fresh clothes out of her bag and returns to her bed.

Doctor Myers found a few bruises on her body, and her left wrist has been sprained when trying to get out of the parachute in the tree, so she insisted on taking properly care of them.

“I’m really sorry, you know,” the Doctor says as she bandages and fixates Frankie’s wrist. Her movements steady and sure, highly professional, as if she has done nothing but bandaging wrists her whole life. Her fingers are warm. Frankie is still freezing a bit despite the semi-warm shower.

"What for?" she asks.

"For what I said when you were out there. How we wouldn’t be able to let you in unless you found something useful and … carried your weight." She sighs. "I mean it’s true. It is. We … we do need to make sure everyone helps the group, and everyone participates. That’s the only way we can survive in times like these. I provide medical assistance and I try to teach others to help me with easy stuff, Sam does his radio thing and makes sure the Runners are save, Francesca is in charge of the kitchen, there are people taking shifts watching the children who live here, the Runners try to find food and other useful things, allowing us to hopefully grow some crops soon. We all do our part. We are a small community, we can’t afford …” she stops, interrupts herself. "Still, we make exceptions. We don’t turn people away just because at first glance we are not sure how and how much they’ll be able to contribute."

She contemplates for a moment, then she gets up and starts putting some ointment on a big red bruise on Frankie’s right upper arm. "I want to be honest with you, Frankie, but we are a bit low on supplies for the hospital. It’s still enough, we still manage, but we are slowly running out of most things. We have raided all the pharmacies in the area, and Mullins promised to send us some kits, but supplies are rare and there are other survivors out there who also need them.”

Frankie thinks about that for a moment. In Mullins, there were always supplies, as far as she saw. She got hurt sometimes when out on a mission for them, small things, but she was always send to the hospital and taken care of. But this is not Mullins, it's not a military base. It's just a group of people trying their best to survive. Running low on supplies explains why Abel would send a Runner into a hospital like the one she'd just escaped, a place with so many places for zombies to hide and attack.

"That’s why you sent her out," she realises. "Runner Five, who got turned."

Doctor Myers nods, slowly, and she doesn’t hide that she is sad about it. “Not just for the supplies, of course. We were also looking for any helpful research that might be of use. In the early days of the outbreak scientist everywhere tried to find a solution, and I was hoping maybe someone would have found something. Anything. Also we needed to know if there was still something useful in the hospital. Or if it was totally empty. Alice volunteered. I told Sam and Janine - you’ll meet her, she’s in charge when the Major is away - that we needed supplies, and Alice volunteered. She was always so careful, and I don’t know _why_ she agreed to do it, but she did. We didn’t send her out alone, of course, two other runners ran decoy to give her some time, but in the end…"

She is done taking care of Frankie’s bruises, and sits down on a chair opposite of her, while cleaning the tools and putting all the supplies back.

"That’s why you sent me to the hospital," Frankie says, moving her upper arm to make sure the bruise doesn't limit her movement to much. It hurts a bit. „To get some supplies, and find research, and see if there is still something in there to take.”

Doctor Myers nods. "I am very sorry for putting under that stress, and for putting you in danger. You seemed like such a capable soldier, coming all the way from Mullins, surviving the helicopter crash and the zombies in the forest. I had to try my luck."

Part of Frankie wants to shout out that she isn’t capable, she’s not even a soldier, she’s not even Fra- … no, no she is, she is Frankie. So she doesn’t say it. Instead she says, "I didn’t see much," she admits. "In the hospital, I didn’t see much. But I only ran through a small part on the ground floor. Seemed like people already went through a lot of the stuff, but they forgot a few things. So maybe they didn’t have time to properly search, and there might be more left."

"I see. I will talk to Janine, Evan and Sam about it."

Speaking of the devil, a voice from outside calls out to them. "Hallo? Doc? Can I come in?"

She smiles. "Yes, Sam, you can come in, we are done here."

The tent opens and Sam comes back in. He is pale, and a bit nervous. "So … any … bites?"

Doctor Myers laughs and gets up to put her equipment away. "No bites."

His relieved sigh catches Frankie by surprise. Sure, she assumed nobody wanted her to be bitten so they wouldn’t have to deal with a soon-to-be-zombie in their town. But he seems genuinely happy that she is not about to die. "That’s good to hear! Any other injuries?"

She holds up her bandaged left hand. "Nothing serious."

"Our guest is fine, Sam." The doctor calls. "Nothing that a little extra rest won’t heal. Talking about rest," she returns. "You should try and get a few hours of sleep, you must be tired after that run."

"I don’t … feel tired. Just exhausted," she admits. Sleep has never been Frankie's friend.

"Trust me, you’ll feel tired really soon. That’s still the rest of the adrenaline."

"Okay…"

"Oh, nearly forgot," Sam says. "We should contact Mullins, let them know what happened. Confirm that you are save, and with us at the moment. Do you have an ID or something, that would help?"

Frankie nods. She has an ID, and the additional military ID they gave her during her early weeks of training. She grabs her backpack and checks the front pocket, where her IDs always are.

Or where they should be.

They are gone.

Frankie doesn't expect to panic about this as much as she does, but she pulls open the main bag in a frenzy. Rummaging through her remaining things. Maybe she just put it in there accidentally when she packed her things for this mission! Maybe it's between that T-Shirt and the pair of socks! Or maybe ... 

But it's not.

The small pouch with her IDs is just... gone. She hastily checks the front pocket again.

"Oh shit!"

"What is it?” Sam asks.

"There’s a hole in my bag," Frankie whispers.

It’s a long tear, probably from her crash, in the middle of the front pocket. "My IDs are gone."

"Aw man, that sucks. But don’t worry about it, we’ll give them your name," Sam says. Like it’s not a big thing. Like she didn’t just lose her IDs.

The documents proving who she is! Proving she is_ Frankie! _

She’s had them since Kings Cross. Now they are gone.

But the ACDC pin is still there, the one she found way before getting to Mullins, in a left behind, abandoned house outside of a small town. At least the pin is still here.

Doctor Myers seems to sense her stress, and comes to her help. "Alright the two of you, enough for now. Sam, you go talk to Mullins, Frankie here needs some rest."

"Yes, right, of course!” Sam says. "We’ll need to get a bed assigned to you and-"

"Sam, she can’t go sleep in a dorm. People will not stop asking her questions, and she needs some rest," Doctor Myers scolds, then she looks at Frankie. "You’ll sleep here, the corner over there can be closed off so you will have some peace and quiet."

She shows Frankie the way. "Get some rest. We can discuss everything else afterwards." She glances at Sam, who mimes locking his mouth with a key and throwing it away. Frankie can't help but smile a little.

"Maybe when you’re awake, someone can show you around Abel, so you’ll see where you’ll stay for the next few days."

"Thank you,” Frankie means it. She _is_ very grateful she could take a shower, and her wrist is taken care of, and that she doesn’t have to sleep in a room with strangers asking her questions.

She waves goodbye to Sam who gets shooed out by Doctor Myers, then closes the curtains around the bed, and she lies down. Just an hour, she tells herself. Just a little. A few minutes ago she wasn’t even all that tired. Exhausted, yes, but not really tired. But now, now she is. Suddenly she is.

She grabs her backpack like she usually does when she sleeps, takes out the iPod (it’s still mostly charged thank God, she’s not sure if she’ll have a change to charge it while she is here), and switches it on. She listens to a song she has listened to before. It’s one of her favourites, and closes her eyes.

She’s gone before the first chorus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super sorry it took far longer to get this out than expected. That's what happens when you decide to become a "real" grown up and look for a bigger apartment... Thank you so much everyone who is still reading my story, love you all :)
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a bit on the shorter site, but don't worry, the next one is just around the corner.
> 
> Next Chapter: March 15th


	5. Welcome to Abel - Population 71

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frankie glances at the walls and fences of Abel. On the other side of the township there is solid wall, maybe left over from the farm Abel was built on and around.  
But some parts of the township are only protected by fences. Strong fences in most parts, not so strong fences in other areas. Someone with enough fire power to have a rocket launcher would be more than capable of getting in.
> 
> No wonder the people are a bit nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break.  
Also sorry about the weird formatting of this ... AO3 has been giving me some formatting trouble recently. I'll sort it out in time for the next chapter.  
Speaking of that: New chapter is already finished and going through editing as we speak!

_She dreams of fire._  
_Of the burning sky._  
_Of the moment the helicopter burst into flames. The screaming of the pilot ringing in her eyes._  
_Jolly Five Niner is going down._  
_Is going down is going down down down-_  
  
When she opens her eyes she doesn‘t know where she is.  
She can still smell the smoke, the terrible noise of the helicopter. Like a monster. Goaning in agony as it is hit by ... whatever hit them.  
  
Then she remembers: She is in Abel Township. She survived a helicopter crash, and a zombie attack. She lost her ID, but she didn’t lose her life!  
  
Her whole body is sore when she manages to drag herself out of the bed, and she opens the curtains. Doctor Myers is coming out of her office container. "Good morning!"  
Good morning? Is it already morning? "How long did I sleep?"   
Doctor Myers chuckles. "The whole afternoon, evening, and the whole night. You looked like you needed it."

She slept for the whole night? Frankie can’t remember the last time she had more than a few hours of sleep. Then again, she did take her body to the absolute limit - something she tried to do at Mullins with mixed success. But she probably shouldn’t fall from helicopters again just to make sure she gets to sleep.  
"You can go use the bathroom if you want," Doctor Myers says. "Sam will be here soon, he’ll show you around. There are some people you should meet."  
Frankie is not good with meeting people. Or talking to them. But she’ll need to find out about Project Greenshoot either way, and Mullins probably won’t be able to replace the crashed helicopter right away to pick her up again, so maybe she should try meeting as many people as possible.  
Sometimes she misses Robin. Robin was good with people. Outgoing. Fun to hang out with. Easy to talk to. And Robin had no problem talking to people, making new friends, finding someone to spend the night with. Frankie doesn’t even know how to really say "nice to meet you" anymore.  
Because it usually isn’t nice to meet someone.  
She doesn’t know the name of a single soldier in Mullins, despite talking to them every once in a while, and working with them. Not just because she is bad with names - she admits that she is - but because their conversation usually only involved strictly mission-related things. And that was fine, nobody ever asked her to learn more, they all just accepted it.  
  
She says a quick Thanks to Doctor Myers and then hurries to the bathroom. Better get ready to start the investigation. What is Project Greenshoot, and who is in on it?  
  
  
Frankie has just finished eating a Sandwich Dr. Myers had set next to her "bed" for breakfast, feeling a little better already after a quick shower, when Sam arrives.  
"So, Runner Five - I mean Frankie, how are you feeling today?" He smiles, but there are dark rings under his eyes. And his smile does seem a little forced.  
"Okay," she shrugs. Then she admits. "Everything hurts."  
"Well, you did fall from a helicopter, so ..."  
"I jumped," she corrects him.  
"What?"  
"I didn't fall, I jumped, it was the only way to ... well ..."  
"To not die," he nods. "Well, I for my part, am very glad you did. Because these files you brought with you might be more than helpful. Thank you again."  
  
She nods, and for a moment they stand there in awkward silence.  
Is there something she should say? She already thanked him yesterday, right? And talking about the dead girlfriend is probably still a bad idea. So what else is there ...?  
  
"Okay," Sam says while Frankie is still trying to figure out a good thing to say, "So I‘ll take you for a tour through Abel, if you want. Show you around?"  
She nods, thankful for any distraction, and they head out of the hospital tent.  
  
  
  
Abel Township is ... well ... it‘s small.  
And a bit messy.  
Not in a dirty way, but in a ... random way.  
The military settlements she‘s stayed at so far were mostly organized. The buildings used to be solid, and even the more temporary, improvised containers were organised, lined up, grouped together depending on their purpose, for efficiency.  
  
Abel Township is ... not that.  
There is a big farmhouse in the middle - Janine‘s Farmhouse, Sam explains. The township was built around it. And scattered around it are two re-functioned camping trailers, a few tents of different colours and sizes and shapes (some of them definitely military tents). There is a shed behind the farmhouse - "It‘s where we keep the non-perishable supplies the runners bring in", Sam explains.  
Frankie learns that Abel Township sometimes gets shipments from bigger townships they work with, or military bases, but they mostly depend on Runners going out collecting food and supplies. She feels a little guilty about all the supplies they lost with the helicopter crash. Then she remembers what the pilot said on their flight over: they didn’t have as many supplies with them as they’d usually bring.  
Probably because the supplies where just a decoy?  
  
She follows Sam as they pass a small field that looks like it was a hastily put together gardening area. They probably try to grow crops here, but Frankie knows next to nothing about gardening, so she can't judge if they are doing a good job or not. There is a group of three people in loud discussion on the other side, one of them, a short woman, gesticulating heavily, pointing at the field over and over. She‘s clearly not happy.  
Sam grimmaces and leads Frankie to the left, away from the field. "Let‘s not got in their way ..."  
"What happened?"  
"You don‘t wanna know," he tells her in a low voice. "There were potatoes involved. And alcohol. And a severe lack of respect for plants. It wasn‘t pretty."  
Frankie wants to ask another question but Sam just shakes his head.  
"It was very traumatic, we are not ready to talk about it. Yet. Or ever. Here, let me show you the showers and the kitchens instead..."  
  
Turns out the showers are just an old container transported here from the camping side of a rock festival, and the kitchen is a tent build around an old caravan. Sam convinces an Italian woman namend Francesca, who is eying Frankie with obvious curiousity, to hand them an apple each, and they continue their trip through Abel.  
Abel doesn‘t seem very busy at the moment. Some people are carrying things from one end to the other, there are people in the kitchens, and someone is fixing a window on the top floor of the farmhouse. Also, a few people seem to be patrolling the fences and walls, and guarding the gate.  
But all in all, not many people seem to be up.  
Maybe they are out somewhere, or sleeping during the day to be ready for their night shift, Frankie assumes.

It‘s different than the military bases. Even different than the research facility she‘s been to. There, everyone was super focused all the time. Discipline was the number one rule, the way they‘d keep on target, preventing people from fighting with each other.  
This looks more like ... a camp.  
But there is tension in the air, a bit of nervousness. The people they see or meet during their tour don‘t stick around long. They greet Frankie, they are also curious about her, for sure, they smile, but they seem a bit ... on edge. As all of them are. Probably because Frankie‘s helicopter got shot down.  
Which means there is some lunatic somewhere in the forest with a rocket launcher, about to blow up helicopters. It‘s a thing to get nervous about for sure.  
Frankie glances at the walls and fences of Abel. On the other side of the township there is solid wall, maybe left over from the farm Abel was built on and around. But some parts of the township are only protected by fences.  
Strong fences in most parts, not so strong fences in other areas.  
Someone with enough fire power to have a rocket launcher would be more than capable of getting in.  
No wonder the people are a bit nervous.

  
She wants to ask Sam about it, about how secure this township really is. But he seems so excited telling her about the solar power panels they plan on installing some day, to help with the energy shortages.  
So instead she asks about the number of people living at Abel.  
"71 in total," he says. "I know it‘s not much, there are many places much bigger, not even that far away. Having more people would be good," he contemplates after a moment, finishing his apple. "There‘s strength in numbers."  
Frankie nods. "But there‘s also strength in knowing who everyone is, right?"  
She‘s looking back to the kitchen tent where a man and a woman are just carrying out a box of ... something ... probably potatoes. They seem to be having an amicable conversation.  
"True. At least you know you can trust these people. What‘s Mullins like? What at the people there like?"  
  
That is a good question, really.  
  
Frankie didn‘t really interact with them, didn‘t she? She worked with them. But mostly alongside them. She addressed people by their rank, if she had to talk to them at all.  
She doesn‘t even know if some of them _did_ have close friends. Maybe the people in Mullins were are close as some of the people here seem to be.  
She wouldn‘t know. She didn‘t care.  
She doesn‘t say that. She shrugs, §They are soldiers,§ and that‘s all the explanation she gives. Hoping Sam will be happy with that answer.  
She can see that he wants to ask more, but then he just nods. "No soldiers here... except for the Major. She had a few people with her in the beginning, two left for other settlements, one she sent on a mission in the beginning of the whole ... apocalpyse and he never returned. The other two ... well ..." No reason to say more, really.  
  
"And last but not least - the Radio Tower," Sam says, as they get closer to the radio tower she‘s seen before. The one she used to navigate to the fields and forest, to get here. There is a small building sitting underneath it, and an even smaller one on the other side. "It‘s not much," Sam hurries to say, and he sounds a little nervous all of a sudden. "Just something we cobbled together really. It‘s hot inside, especially in summer, and it doesn‘t properly work half the time. But it does its job, and we can get decent radio connection to the surrounding areas, at least most of the time. It‘s ... it‘s not much, but it‘s enough for us. For now."  
Frankie stops and looks up the tower.  
It seemed higher when she was looking at it yesterday, when running here. It‘s just a regular, small radio tower, with lots of cables hanging from it. Nothing much indeed.  
  
And yet.  
  
And_ yet_.  
  
Yesterday, without directions from the township she probably would be much worse off right now. Best case she‘d still be out there somewhere, hiding from the zombies. Like she did on her way to Mullins. After the seaside station had been run over. Best case!  
And with the nights cold like this, she must admit a few hours of sleeping in the hospital tent was definitely preferred.  
Also, the ghosts are out there.  
Not in here at the moment.  
Not yet.  
Maybe Able‘s feeble walls will be strong enough to keep them away.  
  
"It‘s good," she says, as Sam is watching her closely for a reaction to the Radio Tower that is clearly his work area. "I mean, it did help me get here. So that‘s good."  
"We‘re glad that you‘re here," he says. "Save and in one piece. We always need good people like you."  
She doesn‘t like the sound of that.  
It seems like he has already decided she‘d stick around.  
When truth is, Frankie doesn‘t know how long she‘ll be here. They might call her back to Mullins. She might find out Project Greenshoot is something terrible and get the hell out of here. Who knows.  
"Who is in the Radio Station when you‘re not here?" She says to change the topic. "Or are you the only one?"  
"At the moment it‘s just me. But that‘s okay, we don‘t have many runners, and we try not to send them out too much, so I can cover their runs."  
  
Suddenly, the door on the other, smaller building opens, and two men come out. One of them using crutches.  
It takes Frankie a moment to see that he‘s missing one leg from the knee down. She tries hard not to stare at it, but by trying not to she somehow ends up staring at it even harder.  
She pulls her eyes away.  
The two of them are excitedly chatting with each other when they spot Sam and Frankie.  
"Heya Sam!" The guy on the left with ginger hair is waving at them, and the two get closer. "Thanks so much for the spare mic and the wires," he says. "You're a Saint!"  
"Oh, well, it‘s not much..." Sam says, a little flustered. "It‘s just a little bit of extra stuff I still had lying around..."  
"It‘s more than that, you know that," the guy with the crutches, having caught up to them says. His accent is clearly not British. Maybe American like the doctor. Or Canadian? "And we know what Maxine and you did to help us. Thank you."  
"No problem, really."  
"And that is of course the new Runner!" the guy with the red hair says, looking at Frankie with a wide smile. "Quite the entrance you made yesterday!"  
"Well..."  
"My name is Jack, by the way, and that‘s my partner Eugene," the guy with the crutches waves at her. "And we have now clearly been upstaged when it comes to impressive entrances."  
"I wouldn‘t know that,“ Eugene mumbles, but then he shakes Frankie‘s hand. "Nice to meet you."  
"So, the station is ready then?" Sam asks.  
"Almost," Jack is beaming. "Give us another day or two and we are good to go!"  
"The two of them are working on a radio station," Sam explains in Frankie's direction. "A little bit of music in the apocalypse."  
  
Frankie thinks about the iPod in her backpack.  
Having a little bit of music at night to keep the mind off the zombie apocalypse? She can definitely get behind that.

"Now all we need is a few more CDs, or maybe another hard drive of music," Jack sighs. "All we have now is Barry Manilow and Eugene‘s Best-of-Mullet-Rock collection. We need something fresh."  
"It’s _not_ Mullet Rock, and we are _not_ going to play trashy pop music by ... former Big Brother stars!"  
"But it’s _fun_, Gene! You know what that is, fun?“ Jack looks at Sam and Frankie. "Eugene is such a purist when it comes to music sometimes. 'Only music with _real _instruments is _real _music, and Four Cord pop songs are the devil, yada yada yada... ey."  
"That‘s not what I sound like," Eugene laughs.  
"That’s totally what you sound like! Like you are a hundred years old!"  
"Oh shut up sorry for having more taste in music then I apparently have in partn-"  
"Okay, that‘s enough," Sam says, leading Frankie away from the two. "Say goodbye to Frankie!"  
"Goodbye, Frankie," they both say, only to then continue their discussion as Sam leads her away. "We made it away in time, thank God. Just ... ignore them."  
Frankie glances back at the two of them, still cabbling, but also laughing.  
  
She shrugs, suddenly remembering hanging out with her friends, laughing, fighting about silly things.  
But she shakes off that thought.  
It‘s no use now.  
It‘s all gone. That was a different time.  
That was before the burning sky and before King‘s Cross, and before ... well ... _before_.  
  
"It‘s fine," she says, and it‘s not.  
If Sam notices, he doesn‘t say anthing.  
Because it isn‘t fine. Nothing is fine.  
Because friends die. Partners die. Boyfriends and girlfriends die.  
It‘s the apocalypse.  
And the world now is zombies, and ghosts, burning skies and crashing helicopters.  
  
Everything and everyone dies in the end. That‘s the world now. No matter how much they all wish it wasn‘t so ...


End file.
